Ken can't cope with crowded Street
Bill Roache, the actor who plays Ken Barlow in Coronation Street, has sensationally hit out at the show, calling it "superficial".
14:16 25 July 2005
Bill Roache, the actor who plays Ken Barlow in Coronation Street, has sensationally hit out at the show, calling it "superficial".
Bill has worked on the soap since its inception in 1960, and the 73-year-old has been given central story lines recently, including Ken's remarriage to Deidre on the day before Charles and Camilla's Royal Wedding.
But the actor, who is the only member of the original cast left on set, claims that the lack of rehearsals and high turnover of characters has changed the soap fundamentally.
"It's more superficial than it used to be," Roache told the Sun. "It's quicker, the scenes aren't as deep and the whole thing is lighter.
"There are no rehearsals, you have to be word perfect and just go in and do it," he said, adding that the growth of the show from 15 to about 60 actors is "too much".
The actor is also concerned that the influence of EastEnders is rubbing off on the Street, with more and more Londoners moving onto the set.
"What are they going to do, take over the Street? You have to be careful. It's a Lancashire thing," he said.